Nottingham boy has become city's very own 'mini bin man'

A boy from Nottingham who devotes himself to all things bins and bin lorries has become known as 'mini bin man' in Wollaton.Eight-year-old Charlie Brown became obsessed with bins after he received a toy bin truck when he was three.Since then, his passion has grown and he now has his own blue bin, helps the bin men on their rounds, cleans neighbours' bins and proudly wears his 'bin man' uniform.

Mum Katie Brown, 39, says: "It all started when he was three and he got a bin lorry toy for Christmas. I'd never seen his smile so big - he just loved it."He fell in love with bins and bin lorries from there.."He has so many bin lorry toys they stretch across the living room when lined up and he jokes he has 'more lorries that the council'."Last year on his birthday, a friend bought him his own blue bin and it's his most prized possession. He kept it in the living room for a week when he first got it and would feed it custard creams, which I had to fish out later."He wheels his bin around the street like it's his baby. "Now, Charlie's bin is even more special to him as last week for his 8th birthday it was upgraded with bespoke artwork by local Nottingham artist Rikki Marr.The bin now has a caricature portrait of Charlie in his hi-vis jacket, his name and the words 'mini bin man.'

Rikki explained: "We are friends with Charlie and his family and we live nearby. Whenever we go round he likes to show me his bin and I often see him waving to the bin men. Also, if he comes to our house he likes to make sure our bins are neat and in the right order."I do a lot of caricature work and Charlie's mum and her friend Gemma approached me to ask if I could paint Charlie's bin as a surprise gift and I was more than happy to."Rikki, 43, whose work ranges from capturing caricatures at weddings and live events, to customising shoes and working with companies such as Boots and Amazon, took half a day to create a one-off design for Charlie."It was so much fun and the look on his face when he received it was just priceless. He gave me a big hug and he thanked me again just this morning on the school run.""We'd seen Rikki's artwork online and knew he'd be the man for the job," says Katie "It's the best present Charlie's ever had."Bin-mad Charlie says his hobby is helped along by his local bin men who support him and always have a smile.He says: "I just really like the bin men. They are always nice to me and I want to help them. I definitely want to be a bin man when I grow up."Charlie brings his neighbours' bins out to save the collectors a job and in the school holidays he walks around his estate helping out with the round where he can. He also enjoys bringing in his neighbours' bins when they've been emptied."The drivers always sound their horn for him," says mum Katie "They even sometimes leave him a treat on the empty bin, like his favourite biscuits and they gave him a birthday card. It means so much to him."Such is Charlie's dedication to bins, he will even clean other people's and make sure his neighbours' bins are left out if they're on holiday.

"I once saw him with someone else's bin and said 'what are you doing?'" says Katie "And he said 'I'm cleaning it, it's got stuff in'"When I looked it was maggots but he didn't care!"He knows more people around here than me and will say 'oh I've got to put Barry's bin out' and I'll think 'who's Barry?'" She laughs."Also, if we drive by a big block of flats or similar where all of the bins are lined up, Charlie will gasp and say 'Mum they're so lucky!"Katie also says that lockdown was no barrier to Charlie's bin duties, adding:"When doing online schooling he would put his hand up on the class zoom when the bin men came and say 'Miss I'm a key worker, I need to go and see the bin men.' and there was no stopping him."Charlie, who also lives with dad Ian, 41 and brothers Ben, 12 and James, 10, has his own Instagram account, run by his family, to document his adventures as @minbinmannotts.And, happily for his mum and dad he likes doing other jobs too."He's sweeping the garden as I speak," says Katie "Sometimes I might say 'don't you want to play' but that's just Charlie."